Art Writing = Critical


Recently Plug hosted a meetup of writers, bloggers, artists, and editors to a casual open forum to discuss critical writing and its place in the Kansas City arts ecosystem. The meeting opened with an invitation to speak to the history of criticism in KC; venues and projects of the past, what is working already and what new opportunities might exist beyond current outlets.

Some outstanding questions resulting from the discussion include:

Who is the audience for art writing? How does that change from outlet to outlet?

Who does art writing serve? Is art writing for artists? Is it for the public? For collectors?

Who can support art writing ethically, without affecting the criticism?  What is the recipe for sustainable art writing in kc?

For the next meeting, we will discuss and brainstorm the potential of specific critical writing projects that could be launched to supplement the existing writing outlets in Kansas City.  Examples of this might be small scale publications (chapbooks, blogs, brochures, etc), an annual published “survey” of Kansas City artists, or experimental “criticism” (for example, lori waxman: 60 minute art critic).  Our next critical writing meetup will take place in March.

With Art Practical in town this coming week, Plug is looking forward to continuing the conversation about unexpected ways art writing can be a bigger part of the art community in Kansas City. We will be posting more about related events and discussion as the visit plays out.

 

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